Makawita Purana Viharaya (Sinhala: මාකාවිට පුරාණ විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Makawita village in Matara District, Sri Lanka (Abeyawardana, 2004).
The temple is believed to have been established around 1700 (Wikramaratne, 2015). The old image house of at the site is considered an important monument of archaeological value. It preserves a valuable collection of paintings belonging to the traditional art tradition related to the Kandyan Period (Wikramaratne, 2015). Murals depicting Jataka tales are found painted on the inner walls of the outer chamber. Inside the inner chamber of the image house is a statue of Buddha flanked on either side by two standing Buddha statues showing Abhaya Mudra. The painting on the door of the inner chamber that showing two ladies holding a trophy containing a coconut flower is considered a special piece of work (Wikramaratne, 2015).
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Attribution
#) LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Lalith Kekulthotuwage for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.
References
1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Ruhuna: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-073-4. p.64.
2) Wikramaratne, I., 2015. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Matara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-54-2. pp.18-19.
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This page was last updated on 4 October 2023
